Cucumber Cutting

Word from the author:

How to cut a cucumber for sushi

Why do I need a guide for cutting a cucumber?

Because making sushi requires a certain amount of precision as to how you cut your vegetables. And carrots are very difficult to handle in this respect. For that reason, over the years, sushi makers have developed a cucumber cutting method, passed on from generation to generation, enabling the most novice sushi maker to cut cucumbers like a pro. Today you will learn that method.

The guide

Split in half

Pick up a cucumber, preferably an evenly shaped one, and split it along the middle as evenly as you can. Taking off the ends is optional, I chose not to.

Take out the core

If you followed the first step correctly, you should have half a cucumber in your hand. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal. With a sharp knife, take the cucumber core, again, as evenly as you can. Bare in mind the that this cucumber is going to be cut into sticks, hopefully even ones – so taking out the core plays a great part in this – if you take it out evenly, you’re going to have even cucumber sticks.

Split into sticks

Face the cucumber down, and with a sharp knife cut it into 1/2 cm thick sticks. Once your are done, you might want to hold all the sticks together and cut the ends to ensure that they are all the same length (preferably the length of half a nori sheet) – but this is also optional.